


Feathers to Midnight

by Anthemyst



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Kinda, M/M, enemies au, guardian nino, nelix week 2018, paon felix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-05-25 19:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14984294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Felix Agreste has a secret. So does Nino Lahiffe.Written for Nelix Week 2018.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seasonofthegeek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/gifts).



> Thanks to [poppicock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppicock/) for the title!

  1. Library



“This is all your fault, you know,” Nino informed Felix.

“How-“ Felix and Nino both ducked instinctively at yet another loud crash, “-do you figure?” Felix pushed with all his might against the overturned picnic tables above their heads, to no avail. He didn’t fancy being trapped with his brother’s best friend a second longer than absolutely necessary, but it seemed he was entirely at the mercy of Paris’ latest akuma du jour.

“It was just one little autograph.”

“I don’t expect you to understand, but it’s _always_ just one little autograph, one little selfie, and the next thing you know you’re filing a restraining order.”

“She wasn’t even asking you!”

“I thought I’d save Adrien the trouble.”

“Yeah, just look at all the trouble you saved him.” Nino put his face up to the space between two tables and squinted. “I can’t see him anymore.”

“Good. Hopefully he at least had the good sense to get indoors.”

“Yeah.” Nino took half a step back and immediately banged his head. Scowling, he dropped to the ground and began to rummage through his backpack.

“What are you doing?” Felix asked.

“Homework,” Nino said, pulling out his physics textbook. “We have an exam next week, and ‘I couldn’t study, there was an akuma attack’ isn’t much of an excuse these days.”

“Ah.” Slowly, Felix lowered himself to the ground. “You have a point.” He pulled out his literature assignment, and began to read by the light that managed to filter in through the debris that trapped them both. For the next fifteen minutes the boys worked in total silence, ignoring the occasional crashes and screams from the outside world.

“So,” Nino looked up, “Does Adrien have a lot of restraining orders or something?”

Felix looked at Nino, surprised. “No,” he said. “Our mother had her fair share, though. I’d rather Adrien didn’t have to deal with everything she went through.”

“She was a model too, right?” Felix nodded. “How’d you get out of it?”

“Pardon?”

“Well, Adrien doesn’t seem to enjoy modeling much, but your old man makes him do it anyway. How’d you get out of it?”

“I was bad at it,” Felix said stiffly. “The camera does not like me.”

Nino laughed. “Does anybody?” He covered his mouth. “Shit, sorry, that came out way meaner than I meant.”

“It’s fine.” The corners of Felix’s mouth turned up slightly. “Adrien takes after our mother. I do not. There isn’t really anything more to it than that.”

“Well, maybe you should give Adrien some pointers. On how to be bad at modeling, that is. I know he’d love the free time.”

“I do not have free time,” Felix said. “Trust me, my father finds… other ways to fill my schedule.”

Nino rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I bet he does.” Nino took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I said this was your fault.”

Felix shrugged. “Maybe it is.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m just in a bad mood. This is the only day this week Adrien had any time to hang out, and now it’s being eaten up by an akuma. That’s not your fault.” Felix didn’t respond, and after a moment Nino went back to studying. “Mind if I play something?”

“Pardon?”

“I study better with a beat,” Nino explained.

“Oh. Fine.”

Nino pulled his phone out of his pocket and began scrolling through his music library. “Any preferences?”

“Not really.”

“Oh come on, everybody has _some_ music preferences.”

Felix rolled his eyes without looking up from his book. “Bach, then.” A few seconds later he looked up, surprised, as the Goldberg Variations began playing softly.

“What, you thought that would stump me?” Nino asked, grinning.

“Let’s just say I’m pleasantly surprised and leave it at that.” They continued studying for a while, the harpsichord recording doing a passable job of drowning out the sounds of chaos outside. Felix’s fingers began to move of their own accord, picking out the correct keys on an invisible piano. A few minutes later, a movement caught at the corner of his eye, and Felix realized Nino’s fingers were playing along as well. “You play?”

“Hm?” Nino followed Felix’s gaze. “Oh, yeah, of course. I can play about five different instruments. You?”

“Just the piano. It was our mother’s favorite. Adrien plays as well, although he doesn’t seem to find it as relaxing as I do.”

Nino smiled. “Maybe you take after your mom more than you think,” he said.

 

* * *

 

“Adrien. Felix.” Gabriel looked up from his desk as Nathalie ushered his sons into his office, his eyes narrowed. “You are an hour late coming home. This is unacceptable.”

“There was an akuma attack, Father,” Adrien said quickly.

“I am aware. I am also aware that if you had both come home directly from school, instead of wasting time _socializing_ , you would have been safely within these walls by the time the akuma struck.”

“I don’t think so, Father, because the victim was looking for-“

“Do not contradict me,” Gabriel snapped, and Adrien immediately shrank back. “I have allowed the both of you to attend school on the basis that you can do so _safely_. If that is no longer the case, we will have to revisit our arrangement. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Father,” Adrien and Felix said in unison.

“Good. Adrien, you have a photo shoot and you are already late. Nathalie will escort you. Felix, you will remain here. I have another matter to discuss with you.”

Adrien frowned and shot his brother a worried look. “It’s fine,” Felix said softly. “I’ll see you after the shoot.”

Adrien nodded uncertainly. “Goodbye, Father,” he said, but Gabriel had already returned his focus to the work on his desk and didn’t look up as Adrien and Nathalie left. Felix waited patiently.

“We have discussed,” Gabriel finally said, putting aside several concept drawings, “the wisdom of antagonizing those who might bear a grudge against your brother.”

Felix fought to keep his face expressionless. “You’re welcome,” he said dryly.

“You lost track of your brother during the attack. That would not have happened if you’d done as I’ve asked, and found someone unconnected to upset.”

“If you’re going to be picky about who I upset,” Felix said, “you’ll have to allow me more than five minutes of freedom a day to find targets more to your liking. And if you don’t like who I pick, you don’t have to akumatize them at all.”

“One might doubt your commitment to our plan, hearing you talk like that,” Gabriel said cooly. “Do you want your mother to wake up or not?”

“Of course I do!” Felix exclaimed angrily. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked and you know it. You’re just mad your plan is going nowhere, and you’re taking it out on me.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Felix.” Gabriel fixed his son with a stare. “Your job is very simple, and far easier than mine. In the future, you will adhere to the parameters I have laid out. That is all.”

A million sharp retorts died in Felix’s throat. Without another word, he turned and left.

 

  1. Family



“Eat!” Two steps into the apartment, Felix was greeted by a wide, beaming face framed by a silk hijab. Fatima Lahiffe shoved a slice of pie in Felix’s face.

“I couldn’t, I-“

“Who’s feeding you boys? Nino! Why didn’t you tell me your friends were starving?”

“Nino’s Adrien’s friend, I just stopped by to bring him back-“

“Felix!” Adrien’s head appeared at the top of the stairs, poking down from the second floor. “You better eat that, Nino’s mom doesn’t mess around.”

Felix sighed in defeat and took the fork Mrs. Lahiffe offered gleefully.

“It’s a pie, dude, not a prison sentence,” Nino said, laughing as he and Adrien entered the family room.

Felix’s cheeks burned. “It’s not that, it’s very good, I just wasn’t going to come in, I-“

“Felix!” Nino’s father entered from the kitchen, with a small boy clinging to his pant leg. “Nino’s been telling us all about you!”

“He what?” What on earth was there to tell?

“Play something for us!” Mr. Lahiffe gestured to the standing piano at the edge of the room.

“Dad, no, you’re embarrassing him!” Nino shot Felix an apologetic look, and to Felix’s surprise Nino looked embarrassed himself. “Anyway, he’s used to playing a grand at home, he doesn’t want to play that rundown thing.”

Something inside Felix withered in shame. He _had_ noticed it wasn’t as nice as the piano he had at home, that was the thing. Was he that predictable? Was Felix that reliable a killjoy?

“Oh, one song won’t kill him,” Adrien said. “Right? One song and then we’ll leave, I promise.”

“You don’t have to,” Nino said in a rush.

“I’d like to,” Felix made himself say. It wasn’t true, not exactly, but… Felix wanted to see what it was like. He wanted to know what it felt like to be that version of himself, the one that would have obliged happily.

Slowly, Felix crossed the room and sat at the bench. “Sorry,” Nino muttered. “I think I have some sheet music of Bach, a page or two is fine, you don’t have to play an entire-“

“I don’t need it.” Felix closed his eyes and thought for a minute, then started playing.

Felix’s mother had taught him this song, him and Adrien both, before their father had caught her and scolded her for filling their heads with something as trashy as pop rock. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nino frowning, trying to place it. Nino would have guessed it faster if it was Adrien playing, Felix thought, a touch bitterly.

Adrien got it first, and his face lit up. “I saw her today at the reception,” he sang in English, exactly as off-key as their mother had been when she’d taught it to them. “A glass of wine in her hand. I knew she would meet her connection…”

Felix saw it click on Nino’s face, he felt a rush of pride as Nino, too, lit up, just in time for the chorus.

“You can’t! Always get! What you wa-ant!” Nino and Adrien belted in unison. “You can’t! Always get! What you wa-ant!” Nino’s parents were joining in too, Fatima singing the lyrics in Arabic, and Nino’s brother didn’t know the words in any language but he babbled something in the general neighborhood of the tune. “You can’t! Always get! What you wa-ant!” All five of them were packed together, crowded around Felix so close he could feel the warmth from them as though they were a single unit, a single family. “But if you try sometimes… you might find… you get what you need!”

 

* * *

 

Felix didn’t usually visit the underground lair beneath the Agreste Manor. What would have been the point? His mother was asleep, and visiting her wasn’t going to wake her up any faster. Felix wasn’t prone to sentiment. Allergic, more like.

That night, for the first time, he found himself drawn to the secret passageways that led to her resting place. Some feeling in his chest that made him restless, some sensation halfway between happiness and guilt, something from his impromptu recital at the Lahiffes’ that lingered, like a tune stuck in his head, and drove him to her side.

“Hi, Mom,” Felix whispered. He traced the tips of his fingers along the glass. It was cold. Everything in this place was cold and dark. Felix’s mother would have loathed it. “Sorry I haven’t visited in a while. I’ve been busy. Helping Father. We… we’re gonna get you out of here soon, I promise. I’m sorry it’s taking so long.”

Felix tried to imagine how his mother might respond.

_Don’t. Stop._

Shit.

“I have to,” Felix whispered. “You don’t know what it’s been like without you. We need you. Father needs you. He’s… not a good person without you.”

Felix had never wasted time seeking absolution before. He knew his mother wouldn’t like what he was doing, but what did it matter? She wasn’t awake to approve or disapprove, that was the whole point.

_You know it’s wrong, my heart._

Felix brushed away a tear impatiently with the heel of his palm. “I’m not a good person without you, either.”

_Find a way to be happy without me._

Happy. Felix had been happy that night. Surrounded by the Lahiffes, for a brief time, he’d forgotten to be miserable without his mother. It should have felt like a betrayal, but it didn’t.

“I made a friend,” Felix whispered. “Well, he’s Adrien’s friend, I guess. But maybe it doesn’t matter that he was Adrien’s first.”

Emilie would have hugged Felix, and kissed his forehead, and assured him it didn’t matter one bit. _My two boys, night and day_ , she would have said. _It’s easy to love the day, but the night, ah, the night. It’s a blessing to love the night._

If it was possible for a woman like Emilie to love a man like Gabriel Agreste, then maybe Nino-

“I’m happy to see you here, son.”

Felix froze. He hadn’t heard the secret passageway open behind him, hadn’t noticed the telltale chill in the air as his father approached. Slowly, Felix turned. His father didn’t look happy, of course he didn’t. Gabriel never looked happy. Gabriel had forgotten what happy was. “Father. If you’d like to be alone, I can-”

“Stay.” Gabriel walked up to the sarcophagus and stood next to Felix. For a few minutes he merely looked upon his wife in silence. “I come here often,” he finally said, “to remind myself of our purpose.” Felix said nothing. “I had begun to fear you’d lost sight of it. Everything we do, we do for your mother.”

_Gabriel, no. Please, no._

Felix wondered if his father could hear Emilie’s voice, too. He wondered what the Emilie in Gabriel’s mind said to him, if their Emilies had anything in common at all.

_Do what you must but leave our son out of it._

“We are very alike, you and I,” Gabriel said. “We understand that people like us exist to protect people like her. People like Adrien.”

Felix swallowed; his throat was bone dry. “Yes, Father,” he murmured.


	2. Chapter 2

  1. First Date



“Boys.” Felix and Adrien looked up from their homework as Nathalie entered the manor’s library. “One of your mother’s movies is playing at Le Champo. The next showing begins in ninety minutes. You will finish your homework in the interim. The driver will escort you both to the theater. You may go out to dinner afterwards at a nearby restaurant, if you like, provided you are back to the manor before nine.”

For a moment, Nathalie’s words didn’t register, foreign as they were. Then a grin broke out on Adrien’s face. “Really?” He leapt out of his chair. “I’m gonna text Nino, maybe he can meet us there-thanks, Nathalie!”

Felix stared at Nathalie, but waited until he could no longer hear his brother’s heavy footsteps echoing down the hall before speaking. “What’s the catch?” he asked.

Nathalie looked away and pursed her lips. “You said something to your father a few days ago. It seems to have had an effect.”

“I did?” Felix couldn’t remember the last time he’d tried to get through to his father, but it had certainly been longer than a few days ago.

“He takes your point, that five minutes of freedom might not be sufficient for you to find… ideal targets. If tonight goes well, there may be more allowances in the future.”

Felix’s heart sank. “You’ll have to thank him for me,” Felix said, his voice flat. Nathalie nodded and quickly left.

 

* * *

 

“All the good seats are taken,” Felix said.

“You are not ruining this for me,” Adrien said gleefully. “We’re gonna have a good time even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming into it.”

“He’s got a point, dude,” Nino said. “The only open seats are in the very back.”

“That’s one of the best places to watch a movie, you don’t want to be too close to-oh, hey, it’s Marinette!” Adrien waved at Marinette, who was surrounded by her friends. She immediately turned bright red and froze until Alya not-so-subtly elbowed her, then waved back. “Maybe they have a few extra seats?”

“You go on ahead,” Nino said, “Felix and I will grab these two back here.

“What? Oh, no, that’s-you don’t have to-I mean,” Felix frowned, but Adrien had already gone on to join his friends. “Sorry,” Felix mumbled. “You don’t have to hang back on my account, you can join the rest of your friends.”

“It’s fine,” Nino said. “Actually, when I told Alya that your old man was letting you guys out of prison, she asked me to help her make sure he and Marinette were sitting together. So my work here is done.”

“I see.” Felix looked back at Marinette and frowned.

“Don’t worry, Marinette’s cool,” Nino said immediately. “I know around Adrien she’s a bit...much. But I’ve known her my whole life practically, and she’ll surprise you. Just gets in her own head too much sometimes is all.”

“Ah.” Felix looked back at Nino. “So you and this Alya…”

“No!” Nino said frantically. “No, no, no, no, no, we’re just friends!”

Felix raised an eyebrow. “That was a few too many ‘no’s,” he said. “What’s wrong with Alya?”

“Nothing! She’s perfect, she just-I want to be clear, we tried dating, we’re better as friends, I am very very single. Just… single and helping a friend set up two more friends, that’s all. I’m very happy to sit back here with you.”

Felix sighed. “I don’t need your pity,” he said. “I’m perfectly happy to watch the movie by myself.”

Nino let out an aggravated groan. “Why are you such an asshole about everything all the time?”

It was hardly the first time Felix had been asked something in that vein, but coming from Nino it hurt. “This is me trying to be considerate!” he snapped. “If I’m such an asshole, I’m sure you’d have a much better time watching the movie with-”

Nino leaned forward and kissed Felix.

_Is this a dream?_ Felix wondered, when his brain was once again capable of forming coherent sentences. _That would explain Father letting us go to the movies, akuma or no._

Nino pulled away, and too late Felix realized he hadn’t kissed Nino back. “Sorry,” Nino muttered, his face turning red. “Shit, I-that was dumb, you can just forget it happened.”

Felix blinked. “I’d rather not,” he finally said. “I… I’m confused.”

Nino laughed humorlessly. “That makes two of us.” He shook his head. “I just-I can’t get you out of my head, I keep talking about you to anyone who will listen, my parents, Alya-and when I told her about the movies she agreed to distract Adrien with Marinette, so we could...it’s dumb, I’m an idiot.” Nino grabbed the bill of his cap and pulled it over his face.

Felix was having trouble keeping up, but after a moment he reached forward and gently pushed Nino’s hat back up out of his face. Nino looked at Felix. Nino’s eyes were gold, how had Felix never noticed that? “People don’t like me,” Felix said.

Nino shrugged. “I like you.”

Felix swallowed. “I like you, too,” he whispered.

Nino began to smile. “Yeah?”

Felix nodded. “Yeah.” He had a brief flash of regret, the feeling that he couldn’t afford to get distracted, that tonight was going to end in chaos, and then he banished the thought. Screw Gabriel, screw his awful plan, screw whatever revenge he’d take when Felix failed tonight. Felix only had tonight, only had this one night of freedom, and for once in his goddamn life he was going to have a good time. “I’m gonna go buy popcorn,” Felix said, and Nino’s smile brightened, “and then we’re gonna sit together and watch this movie. Or not watch it.”

 

* * *

 

“That’ll be ten euro,” the cashier said to Felix. Nodding, Felix pulled out his wallet and waited patiently while the man went to get Felix the sodas he’d ordered.

“...could have sworn I’d seen the actress on the poster somewhere,” the teenage girl behind Felix was saying to her friend, “but I can’t remember what other movie she’s from.”

“Oh my _God_ , no, you don’t remember?” Felix bristled at the girl’s gleeful, gossipy tone. “You don’t remember her from a _movie_ , she’s the one that was murdered a few years ago.”

“What? Oh my God, no way.”

“Yes! Her husband killed her, that fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste. It was a whole thing.”

“Oh, I kind of remember that. But I thought it was unsolved?”

“Yeah, he used all her money to buy off the police so officially she’s only missing or whatever, but he definitely murdered her, everyone knows.”

“Ugh, that’s crazy.”

“Your sodas.” Felix blinked and shook his head. His emotions had been clearing and focusing, until they’d formed into a pinpoint of rage, so much so that Felix had almost forgotten why he was standing there. Wordlessly, he picked up the sodas. Then he pushed the lid on one of them up with his thumb, turned around, and deliberately collided right into the gossip.

“Oh my _God_!” she shrieked. “You ruined my bag!” She held up her leather purse, now soaked and dripping.

Felix looked at the bag, then fixed the girl with a withering stare. “That thing?” he sneered. “You should be thanking me, ruining a knockoff that obvious is a public good as far as I’m concerned.” Before the girl could get in a retort, Felix pushed past her. He threw out the empty soda cup without slowing down, trying and failing to slow his breathing down before he got back to his seat.

“Hey, man, you okay?” Nino whispered as Felix sat down.

“Fine.” Felix leaned back in his seat as the opening credits began, put his hand over Nino’s, and waited for the akuma to attack. “Everything’s fine.”

 

  1. Miraculous



Felix didn’t see his father or hear from him until almost a full twenty-four hours after the akuma attack. It had gone well, for an akuma attack anyway. No Miraculouses, but what else was new? Still, Felix had felt like he was holding his breath ever since getting back home. He wasn’t sure exactly how powerful his father’s ability to detect emotions was, but there was no way he’d missed the kiss. Would he care? Was he angry that Felix was allowing himself to become distracted? It would hardly be the first time he’d blamed Felix for their collective failure to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir.

It was almost a relief, when Gabriel finally summoned him.

Nathalie led Felix to his father’s office and promptly disappeared. Felix stood at the edge of the room, unwilling to break the heavy silence. If Gabriel was planning on tearing him apart, Felix wasn’t going to make his job easier.

Gabriel considered his son for a moment. “Come here,” he said softly. Felix didn’t hesitate, even as his anxiety rose, and he went to stand in front of his father. “How do you think last night went?”

“It was… fine,” Felix said. This was new, this was uncharted territory, Felix had no idea what the right answer was and it was awful.

“Fine?” Gabriel leaned forward and pushed a small box towards Felix.

“My birthday was four months ago.”

The sarcastic reply slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it, but Gabriel merely chuckled. “That is a reward, my son, not a gift. Last night went far better than fine. It’s been a long while, since we got that close. I think the time has come to give you even more freedom, more responsibility. You’re ready.”

Frowning, Felix picked up the box and opened it. There was a flash of light, and then Felix was struggling not to scream in alarm.

“Felix,” Gabriel said, clearly amused, “meet Duusu.”

“Hello,” Felix managed to say to the floating blue creature.

It regarded him for a moment, then turned to Gabriel in mid-air. “Where’s Emilie? The last thing I remember-”

“She has been lost for almost three years now, thanks to you,” Gabriel snapped, “and you would do well to think before speaking in my presence. You have not yet earned back the right to even say her name, after you failed her so entirely.”

“I don’t understand,” Felix said.

“Duusu is a kwami,” Gabriel replied. “You’ve seen Nooroo?” Felix nodded. “Duusu will power your Miraculous now.”

“My…” Felix looked down at the box. “This was Mom’s.”

“I didn’t know, when I brought you into this, if I could trust you.” Gabriel leaned back. “And to be quite honest, I thought your usefulness had reached its limit. But last night showed me otherwise.”

This was what passed for kindness, from Gabriel Agreste. Felix looked at his mother’s brooch and felt sick. It was one of the last untouched pieces of her legacy, and now Gabriel expected Felix to pervert it.

“Thank you,” Felix whispered.

 

* * *

 

“The Miraculouses aren’t meant to be used like this,” Duusu said for the hundredth time that night.

“How are they meant to be used, then?” Felix finally snapped. “You find someone innocent, someone good, like my mother and you use her until there’s nothing left?” Duusu’s tail drooped, and she said nothing. “Never mind that she’s a wife, a mother, that people need her, you just expect her to give everything and then you abandon her? If the Guardian won’t heal her, what other choice do we have?”

“Please.” Duusu came to float in front of Felix’s face. Was Nooroo like this? Felix had only seen brief flashes of his father’s kwami, but if Nooroo was constantly pestering Gabriel, no wonder Gabriel had grown deaf to all voices of reason. How could he stand it, otherwise? “Please, Felix, I remember when you were a baby, I remember how much your mother loved you, she wouldn’t have wanted this for you.”

“Shut up.” The kwami obeyed, and there was a frightening comfort in that, in having total control over something, anything. Felix sat down and turned on the news, waiting for the inevitable report of an akuma attack, waiting for his cue.

 

* * *

 

Nino stared at the bracelet in shock. “I can’t take that, I’m not ready.”

Fu sighed wearily. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be,” he said. “Hawkmoth has crossed the last line left to him, and the Guardian that opposes him must be the best Guardian possible. That has not been me for many, many years.”

“I’m too new. I’ll make mistakes.”

“So will this new Paon.”

“But…” Nino looked at Wayzz. “Are you okay with this?”

Wayzz smiled. “We have had our eye on you for some time now,” he said gently. “Despite the dire circumstances that have led us here, I have been looking forward to this moment.”

“This is a terrible burden, at times,” Fu said. “But it is also a wonderful blessing. You are ready.”

Nino looked back at the Miraculous and nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

  1. Roommates



Felix stood in front of his boyfriend’s apartment door for almost a quarter of an hour before finally working up the nerve to knock. There was the sound of footsteps, and in the instant before the door opened Felix was suddenly consumed with regret. _I should leave, I should go back home and try to-_

“Hey!” Nino beamed at Felix. “What are you…” he trailed off, catching sight of Felix’s duffel bag.

“Can, um,” Felix took a breath, “can I stay here for a bit?”

Nino stared at Felix wordlessly for a few seconds, and Felix braced himself. He’d come up with a convincing enough version of what had really happened, it might be a little suspicious but hopefully-

“Mom!” Nino shouted. “Felix is staying here for a few days!”

“Change the sheets in the guest room!” came Fatima’s immediate reply from within.

Felix blinked. “That’s it?” he asked, as Nino stepped aside to let him in. “You don’t, uh, your parents don’t need to know why I-“

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Nino grabbed Felix’s bag from him and gestured for him to follow. “You’re always welcome here.”

A place where Felix was always welcome. Well, there was a first time for everything.

“Is Adrien coming, too?”

“No. I don’t think so.” Gabriel would leave Adrien out of it, wouldn’t he?

“Okay.” Nino dropped Felix’s bag unceremoniously on the guest bed. “Dinner’s not for an hour, you wanna play a video game or something?”

Felix nodded wordlessly.

 

* * *

 

“You wanna talk about it?” Nino asked a few hours later. Felix stiffened, and Nino immediately wrapped an arm around him. “You don’t have to,” Nino said quickly, “but, you know, it might help?”

Felix shook his head. “I…” he fingered the brooch in his pocket nervously, “my father, he… I failed to meet some expectations he set a few weeks ago.”

Nino went still. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Felix said. He didn’t realize it was a lie until after he’d said it. “We just need some space from each other, I think.”

“Okay. What can I do?”

Felix leaned into Nino’s embrace, and Nino pressed a kiss to his forehead. “This,” Felix murmured.

 

* * *

 

Alone in the guest room, hours after all the Lahiffes has fallen asleep, Felix took the brooch from his pocket. Duusu flew out with it, zipping around the room briefly before coming in front of Felix. “This is good,” she said, “coming here was a good idea. Now that we’re away from your father, we can-“

“Why isn’t it working?” Felix interrupted. “Why do I keep failing to find the new Guardian?”

“You don’t need to anymore,” Duusu said soothingly. Felix glared, and she shrank back a bit. “I mean… Master, please.”

“Clairvoyance,” Felix said. “That’s what this Miraculous promises. Yet every time I try to use it to see myself discovering the Guardian, I see Nino instead. Why?”

Duusu looked away. “Your future with him must be stronger.”

Felix shook his head. “Nothing is more important than finding the Guardian.”

Duusu blinked, and the corners of her eyes glittered like diamonds. “You can be happy,” she whispered.

Felix shook his head. “I can’t return home empty-handed.”

“That place isn’t a home anymore.”

“It will be,” Felix insisted.

“Master, I see so many futures for you,” Duusu said in a rush. “Only you have the power to choose which one is yours, only you can choose happiness over tragedy. Don’t let your father-“

“Duusu, fan out,” Felix interrupted. Without another word, the kwami was sucked into the brooch, and Felix felt the power of the Miraculous wash over him. He took a deep breath, concentrating. “Watchful Eye.”

When Felix had first attempted to use the Miraculous’ ability, it had been exhausting. Gabriel was patient at first, assuring his son that the Miraculouses were willful and their abilities did not come easily. Now, the visions came easily, but they still wouldn’t show Felix what he wanted. _The Guardian_ , he thought. _Show me the new Guardian._

Felix saw himself with Nino, they were laughing together, the sun was shining and everything was perfect.

_No, no, no. The Guardian, show me finding him, show him surrendering the Miraculouses that will heal my mother._

Nino kissing Felix, Nino wrapping an arm around him, Felix idly resting his head on Nino’s chest-

 _No!_ Felix took another breath. _Ladybug, then, show me Ladybug. Who she is, where she lives, how I can get her Miraculous._

Another vision of Nino and Felix, this time with Adrien and that girl who liked him. The four of them were together, on a double date perhaps. Felix hated being in groups but he looked happy there, in that future where he abandoned his Father’s plans.

With a muffled cry of frustration, Felix tore the Miraculous off his vest and threw it across the room.

 

  1. Misunderstanding



Felix looked down at the text message from Nathalie one more time, then sighed and rang the bell.

_Your father will be absent from the mansion until 9:30._

Felix had packed quickly two weeks ago, throwing anything in his immediate range of vision that he thought he’d need into his bag and not bothering with anything else. There were things he missed, books mostly, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask Adrien to bring them to school so instead he’d called Nathalie. She’d promised to see what she could do, and even though Felix knew better, somehow he’d still hoped for more.

“I tried,” Nathalie murmured, as she escorted Felix through the manor, “but you know what he’s like. I think… some display of penitence, and he may-“

“No.” The thought of submitting even further to his father, of begging the man for forgiveness, sickened Felix. “If my father does not want me under this roof until I have the identity of the Guardian, then I won’t return again without it. I’ll be gone in ten minutes.”

Nathalie nodded, then sighed. “I never should have let him bring you into it,” she said.

Felix let out a humorless laugh. “You couldn’t have stopped him,” he said unthinkingly, then felt a flash of regret at the pained look on Nathalie’s face.

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “I wish… I wish I hadn’t lied to myself so thoroughly, when your father brought me in on his plans two years ago.”

Felix wanted to feel more at this admission. Anything, really, except his current exhaustion. Without another word, he entered his room.

Adrien was gone. That was a comfort, at least, that Adrien was still managing to get out. Felix hadn’t dared ask Adrien how things in the house had changed after he’d gone, but they couldn’t have changed for the better.

There was the book Felix had been reading… and some sheet music he hadn’t quite memorized yet, music he wanted to share with Nino, see what he’d do with it… and maybe another book or two, The Three Musketeers had been one of Emilie’s favorites, Felix wasn’t sure how he’d managed to leave it behind…

There was the softest of footfalls.

Felix whirled towards the bedroom’s open window and came face to face with his enemy.

For a few seconds Felix and Chat Noir merely stared at each other in shock. “I can… I can explain,” Chat finally said, but his voice was weak.

Felix opened his mouth to summon his transformation-it would be a few seconds of vulnerability, but maybe Chat wouldn’t be expecting it, maybe he’d still be stunned-and stopped himself just in time. “ _Adrien_?”

Chat sighed, defeated. “Plagg, claws in.” There was a very familiar flash of light, and Felix was looking at his brother. “Um. So. You probably have… questions…”

Adrien. Adrien. Adrien was Chat. Adrien was… Adrien had been in Felix’s visions, his visions of the future, he’d been in them every single time Felix had tried to discover Chat’s identity.

“I wanted to tell you,” Adrien added, “but I couldn’t, nobody else can know, okay?”

“You,” Felix wondered if he should sit down, “you have to stop, you can’t keep-“

“I can’t, Felix, I have to protect Paris from Hawkmoth!” Adrien scowled at Felix. “You think I’m just some dumb kid, you’re not even that much older than me! Why are you and Father always-shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to bring him up.” Adrien took a hesitant step towards Felix. “Are you coming back home now?”

Felix shook his head. “I just came by to get some stuff,” he whispered.

Adrien took another step, and Felix instinctively backed up. “Felix, please, let’s talk about this. It, it’s a good thing, I promise!”

“I have to go,” Felix blurted out. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise, I can’t be here, I have to go, I’m sorry.”

“Felix, wait, we can-“ Felix fled.

 

* * *

 

Felix was back at the Lahiffe apartment as soon as possible, transforming the second he was away from the mansion and flying across the rooftops of Paris. He wanted to be back in Nino’s arms before the inescapable conclusion caught up with him, but of course that was impossible.

If Felix’s visions of Chat Noir were accurate, the other ones were, too.

“How’d getting your stuff go?” Nino asked, when Felix hurried into his room. Felix crossed to him wordlessly and pulled Nino into a hug. “That bad, huh? Did you run into your dad or something?”

Felix shook his head. “No, Adrien. He,” Felix took a breath, “I can’t talk about it, is that okay?”

“Of course.” Nino kissed Felix’s cheek, and Felix allowed himself to enjoy it unthinkingly, just for a moment. Nino’s lips were warm, his arms were home. Felix nuzzled Nino’s neck and breathed in deep. It couldn’t last forever. What could?

“Looking for something?”

Nino’s hand, in the middle of brushing ever so lightly in the neighborhood of Felix’s vest pocket, froze. Then Nino sighed and took a step away. “So we’re not pretending,” he said softly, not meeting Felix’s gaze. There was guilt in his eyes, but hurt, too.

Felix shrugged. “What’s the point?” He willed his eyes to stay dry. “What gave me away?”

“You shouldn’t have been able to recognize Adrien,” Nino said numbly. “He didn’t understand, he called to tell me you figured it out, he thinks you’re just freaking out because you’re the protective big brother.” Nino finally looked at Felix. “He doesn’t know you’re our enemy.”

Duusu flew out of Felix’s pocket to hover in front of Nino. “I tried, Guardian, he kept trying to see you but I only showed him the happiest futures I could with you, I thought… I thought if he saw it enough, he’d-“

“It’s alright, Duusu,” Nino said. He reached a finger out and pet the kwami’s forehead. “You did the best you could.”

Felix had the sudden urge to command Duusu back into his pocket. He shook his head. “Nino, I don’t know what the previous Guardian told you, but you don’t have all the facts, you can’t.”

Nino opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the insistent vibration of his phone. Frowning, he answered. “Adrien?” He listened for a moment, his face growing steadily darker. “I’ll think about it.” Another pause. “I said I’ll think about it, Adrien,” he snapped. “Sorry. I didn’t… it’s not something I can do lightly, you know that. Okay. Great. Yeah, I’ll see you.” Nino hung up. “Adrien thinks you might come around faster if I recruit you,” he said. “Give you a Miraculous of your very own. So you can help us fight Hawkmoth and Paon.”

A lump formed in Felix’s throat. “Thanks for not telling him,” he said.

“I wish I could,” Nino said bitterly. “You have no idea how much I want to, but being the Guardian means I’m magically bound to protect the identities of _all_ Miraculous holders. Including the rogue ones, like you and your father.”

A sudden rage flared up in Felix. “You don’t get to act all hurt and betrayed,” he said. “I didn't know, I had no idea I was fighting _you_. But you figured out who I was, and you didn’t say anything because you thought you could take the brooch, didn’t you?”

Nino scoffed. “Like that isn’t the exact reason you came here the second you figured out who _I_ was.” He set his jaw. “How could this not be personal, Felix? Even if I had nothing to do with Miraculouses, I still live in the city that you and your father are terrorizing on a weekly basis!”

“We don’t have a choice, Nino, your predecessor didn’t give us any other option. You think I want to be Paon? I hate it!”

“Then stop!” Nino closed his eyes and the anger on his face eased, just a bit. “Just… just give me the brooch,” he said. “This can all be over, just-“

“You’re as bad as the last one,” Felix interrupted. “You know, don’t you? You know who had this before me?”

Nino sighed. “Your mother.”

“But Adrien doesn’t, does he?” After a moment of hesitation, Nino shook his head. “My father told me, he told me all about how the last Guardian used her, told her she was helping to keep the world safe-“

“She was, Felix, your mother was a hero-”

“-and he used her up and left her to rot in the dark, and then he gave another one of these things to her _son_? What kind of monster does that?”

“Your father’s the monster, Felix, not Fu.” Nino took a breath. “Look, I… I wish I could tell Adrien about your mother, he deserves to know, and I wish I could tell him about your father too, but I shouldn’t have to tell _you_ that he’s a manipulative asshole!”

“I know who my father is,” Felix said defensively.

Nino shook his head sadly. “Then why the hell would you believe his version of what happened to your mother?”

Felix’s blood ran cold. “She… you said she was a hero, that’s not a lie.”

“She was a hero,” Nino agreed. “And when she fell, Fu did everything he could to bring her back. And he was making progress, but it wasn’t good enough for your father. He wanted to speed up her recovery, he wanted Fu to do things that would have horrified your mother, things she’d never be able to live with. And he stole her away when Fu refused.”

Nino’s words had the unmistakable ring of truth to them. It was like wiping away the grime on a window and seeing through it clearly for the first time. All the things that had seemed warped and suspicious about what Gabriel had told Felix, all the little holes, all the things Gabriel hadn’t allowed Felix to question…

“I’m sorry,” Nino whispered. “If it helps, I didn’t know the full story until I took up the Miraculous. When we started dating, I didn’t know it was your father I’d be fighting. I didn’t know your mother was the hero Fu lost.”

The room was spinning, the walls were closing in, there wasn’t enough air to breathe. “I have to go, I have to-“ Felix was gone before Nino could say another word.


	4. Chapter 4

  1. Concert



When Felix was young, there was a spot in a nearby park he liked to go to. If he was having trouble getting along with the other kids, or if he was butting heads with his father, or just needed to get away, he’d go to this one particular tree. It wasn’t a hideaway exactly, but it was out of the way and if Felix crouched down, small as he was, he was mostly hidden from the other park goers. His mother always came by to check on him, but she’d pretend not to see Felix. She would simply make sure Felix knew she was there, and then she’d wait nearby until he was ready to face the world again.

Felix hadn’t been there in years, and he didn’t consciously decide to go there that night, but there was nowhere else left for him. It wasn’t long before he was crouched at the base of the trunk, hugging his knees, grateful for the growing twilight.

Once they were properly hidden from view, Duusu flew up and perched herself on Felix’s knees. “I’m sorry,” Felix mumbled. Duusu looked up at him with her giant pink eyes and said nothing. “I shouldn’t have,” Felix took a heavy breath, “I shouldn’t have treated you the way my father treats me.”

“Oh, Felix,” she sighed.

Felix rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Can you, um,” he took another breath, “it’s not an order or anything, I don’t want to give you any more orders, but can you tell me about my mom?”

“She loved you,” Duusu said gently.

Felix shook his head. “No, not like that, don’t-my father did that, he told me what he thought would make me do what he wanted, I know you want me to give this thing back but don’t-” Felix’s voice broke and he looked away.

“Alright,” Duusu said. “What would you like to hear?”

“What happened to her?” Felix hadn’t planned to ask, but once he’d said it the question consumed him. “Not what my father told me, what really happened?”

“I don’t know what happened after she fell,” Duusu said slowly. “When our holders fall, we go dormant. But before that, there was a magical energy field. It went awry, it was going to wipe out half of Paris, and your mother knew she had to stop it. So she did.”

Felix held up his Miraculous and looked at it. “She had Watchful Eye,” he said. “She didn’t see it coming?”

“She did,” Duusu said. “But there was no time, no future where… I showed her the futures where she stopped it, and the futures where she didn’t.” Duusu flew up to Felix. “I never know for certain which future will come to pass,” she said. “I hid the darker futures from you, but I tried to show your mother everything.”

Felix nodded slowly. “I guess… I guess it must have been an easy choice, for someone like her.”

Duusu shook her head. “It was the hardest decision she ever made. She knew it would be hard for the people she loved. But she saw a future, a path where you could someday be happy without her.” Duusu pressed her forehead against Felix’s. “She had faith that you’d find it.”

Felix took a shaky break, and another, and then he broke down sobbing.

 

* * *

 

“Felix?”

Felix had lost track of the time, lost track of how long he’d spent curled up under that tree. The sun had set hours ago, and he’d cried himself into total exhaustion. He looked up at Adrien blankly. “How did you find me?” he asked.

“This is where you always come when you’re upset,” Adrien replied.

Felix blinked. “Ten years ago, maybe. You remembered that?”

“Of course.” Adrien shifted his weight. “Cards on the table, Nino’s the one who told me I should come looking for you.”

Felix stiffened. “Did he tell you anything else?”

“Just that he couldn’t tell me anything else,” Adrien said. “Which means it’s something to do with Miraculouses.” Adrien lowered himself to the ground and sat next to Felix. “He’s really worried about you. So am I. I’m guessing Nino took my suggestion to give you a Miraculous and it backfired, huh? I’m sorry, I guess it was a lot at once.”

Felix hesitated, but only for a moment. “You’ve got that wrong, actually. Nino didn’t give me a Miraculous.” Felix pulled out the brooch and showed it to Adrien. “Our father did.”

Adrien went pale, and for a long while he was silent. “Oh,” he finally said.

“Yeah.” Felix pocketed the Miraculous once more. “You don’t seem as surprised as I expected.”

Adrien shrugged. “I suspected Father,” he said softly. “He was so… and the things that cleared him were always a little too neat, a little too convenient. And then Nino, he’s never liked Father but he started acting different about him after he got the bracelet. I should have… I should have realized that if Father was going to make anyone his partner, it would have been you.”

Felix winced. “I guess so.” They sat in silence for a while.

“I know I can’t blame you for not telling me about Father, or being Paon,” Adrien said slowly. “It’s not like I told you about being Chat. But you never even told me she was _alive_.”

“I know. I’m sorry. We didn’t want to give you false hope, we didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You didn’t, maybe,” Adrien muttered. He sighed. “How long has Father been making you help him?”

“From the beginning.”

“God.” Adrien put an arm around Felix’s shoulders, and Felix sank into him immediately, too exhausted to put in his usual resistance to human contact. “That’s terrible, Felix.”

“I know. I don’t have any excuse.”

Adrien shook his head. “That’s not what I meant at all. _He’s_ terrible. You’re his son, he never gave you a choice. Maybe he pretended to, maybe you told yourself he did, but he didn’t.”

“No,” Felix said. “If that was all there was to it, he would have made both of us help him. He didn’t bother with you because he knows you’re like Mom, you’re a hero, you would never-“

“I’m not Mom,” Adrien interrupted. “And you’re not Father, either.”

 

* * *

 

Nino arrived about half an hour later, after Adrien texted him. He sat down on the other side of Felix, and Felix immediately took the Peacock Miraculous out of his pocket and handed it to Nino without a word. Nino gingerly took it from Felix’s grasp, put it in his backpack, and then took Felix’s hand. “Are you okay?” Nino asked softly.

“Not really,” Felix said. “I did terrible things, and now I know they were all for nothing.” Felix’s voice broke slightly. “We’re never getting her back, are we?”

   Nino sighed. “I wish I knew, Felix.”

“She saw a future where I was happy,” Felix said. “She thought I’d find that path, but I’m so off-course, I feel so lost, and I’m too tired to find my way back.”

“You returned one of the lost Miraculouses to the Guardian,” Adrien said. “You’re not as far gone as you think you are.”

Felix considered this for a moment, then abruptly pushed himself away from the tree and stood. “Come on,” he said to a confused Adrien and Nino. “There’s somewhere I need to take you guys.”

 

* * *

 

“Hi, Mom,” Adrien whispered softly. He traced his fingers over the glass and looked at Emilie, blinking back tears. Felix and Nino stood back a few meters away from the sarcophagus, giving Adrien some semblance of privacy with the mother he hadn’t seen in three years. “I’ve missed you.”

Felix turned to Nino. “Can you do anything for her?”

“Maybe.” Nino folded his arms across his chest. “Fu told me what he was doing to help her before. It should still work, it looks like your old man set up something to keep her in good condition at least. And Fu’s still a healer. If we get her back to Fu’s studio, the two of us can pick up where Fu left off.”

“How long?” Felix asked. “If it works, that is?”

“Long,” Nino said immediately. “I’m sorry. Probably a couple of decades at least.”

Twenty years, minimum. Emilie would miss so much in twenty years. Her sons growing up. Marrying, perhaps, having children of their own, and all the little things that happen in between the milestones, in the spaces where people build lives for themselves.

But she wouldn’t miss everything. She’d have time to see the men her sons would become, to be a grandmother to their children. It would be enough. It had to be.

Adrien turned around to face Felix and Nino. “How do we get her out of this horrible place?”

“We go back to Fu,” Nino said. “He’ll come up with something.”

Felix frowned. “It’s well past midnight,” he said. “Will he be awake?”

“Probably,” Nino said. He yawned, and out of the corner of Felix’s eye he noticed Adrien leaning on the sarcophagus for support. “Fu doesn’t sleep much these days.”

Felix was exhausted, he’d been exhausted for hours now, so he didn’t notice the change until it was too late. His eyelids were growing heavy, his limbs felt weighted down, and he instinctively reached for Nino. “I don’t feel good,” Felix murmured.

Nino’s eyes darted around suddenly. “We… we’re in a sleep chamber,” he said, realization dawning. “We walked right into Hawkmoth’s fucking sleep chamber, of all the idiotic-we have to get out of here. Now.” Nino grabbed Felix’s hand and pulled him towards the exit, but Felix could only take a few steps before the darkness overtook him.

 

* * *

 

Felix jolted awake. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t see, it was dark and he was tied down to a chair.

“Felix.”

Felix’s blood turned to ice, and he stopped struggling. “Father.” Slowly, Felix’s eyes adjusted to the low light. He saw Hawkmoth standing over Emilie. “Making sure the lighting was sufficiently dramatic was a high priority, was it?” he asked dryly.

“I need to redirect as much power as I can to your mother,” Hawkmoth replied. “I’ll need almost all of it to complete the energy transfer.” Hawkmoth straightened and turned to Felix. “Thank you, by the way, for bringing me the Guardian as I’d asked. And Chat Noir, too. What a dutiful son you are.”

Felix heard a set of muffled groans, and he turned his head. Adrien and Nino were both tied up as well, and gagged to prevent them from transforming. Nino’s eyes locked with Felix’s, and the fear in them broke something in Felix. “You knew,” Felix said slowly, looking back at his father. “You figured out what my visions meant, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Hawkmoth replied. “The kwamis may be insolent, but they’re not capable of that level of defiance. It was clear from the start that this Nino was the new Guardian.”

“And instead of telling me, you kicked me out.”

“I knew you’d bring him back here one way or the other,” Hawkmoth replied. “Obviously I hoped you would remain loyal to your mother, but I knew you were weak. I had to orchestrate things so they led here no matter what path you chose.”

“Why?” Felix looked back at Nino. “Why do you need the new Guardian?”

Hawkmoth scowled. “I would have preferred to use the old one, the one that failed your mother, but Fu is ancient. His natural life force is almost used up, there isn’t nearly enough of it left to wake Emilie. Still, Fu will suffer when he learns what has become of his successor. That’s almost better, in some ways.”

“No,” Felix said, “no, no, no, you _can’t_ , you, you’re talking about killing an innocent-“

“No one who tries to stop us from saving your mother is innocent, Felix.”

“He wants to help her!” Felix struggled against his bonds again, and to his surprise he felt one give, just a little. “He can heal her, he-“

“In twenty years? Thirty? Forty?” Hawkmoth scoffed. “Unacceptable. If you loved her as a son should, you’d agree.”

Felix knew, intellectually, that his father was wrong, and mad, and evil, but his words were still salt in a very fresh wound. “I love her,” he whispered defensively.

“Then why would you choose this boy's life over hers?”

“Because it doesn’t work like that!” Felix shouted. “You don’t get to choose one person over another, you can’t just trade people’s lives like they’re _currency_ , Mom knew that, Mom would never-“

“If you value your mother’s self-sacrifice so much, you will have no objection to what comes next,” Hawkmoth said coldly. “I’m not going to sacrifice Nino.”

“You… what? You’re not?” A flash of hope, a foolish spark. Felix should have known better by now.

“Not at all. Nino is going to sacrifice himself. That’s what his kind loves best, isn’t it? Young heroes throwing their lives away?”

Felix looked at Nino again. The boy had gone pale, and now he was pressing himself against the chair’s back, trying desperately to put even a few more centimeters’ distance between himself and Hawkmoth.

“No he won’t,” Felix said firmly.

“Of course he will. He’s a hero, and he loves you. A part of him wants to do this.” Hawkmoth held up his hand, and a small white butterfly landed in his palm. “That’s all I need.”

The shadowy akuma fluttered gently out of Hawkmoth’s hand and drifted towards Nino. Wide-eyed, Nino pulled uselessly at the ropes holding him in place, but he couldn’t budge more than an inch, and the creature had no difficulty in landing upon his Miraculous.

Instantly, darkness engulfed Nino. He stopped struggling. His gold eyes turned black.

“Guardian Angel,” Hawkmoth said. He moved towards Nino and quickly undid his bonds. “Are you ready to give your life to save this fallen hero?”

“Yes, Hawkmoth,” Nino murmured, standing. “Wayzz, shield up.” A familiar light washed over Nino. His akuma and Miraculous forms merged into a sick parody of Carapace.

“Nino!” Felix struggled again, his left arm was coming loose but not fast enough, “Nino, please, fight it!”

Nino turned to Felix and calmly tilted his head. “Why?” he asked. Nino reached for Felix’s face, and Felix recoiled. Gently, Nino brushed away a tear. “Don’t cry, Felix. I’m doing this for you. I want to.”

“There, see?” Hawkmoth said. “Everybody’s getting what they want.”

“I don’t want this, Nino doesn’t want this, _Mom_ wouldn’t want this-“

“Do not speak of her again,” Hawkmoth snapped. “Once I have saved her, I will deal with you and your brother. We will be a family again, but I can only fix one problem at a time. You will be silent now.” Hawkmoth turned to Nino. “Begin the ritual.”

Nino nodded and began to chant under his breath. Felix couldn’t understand a word, but he could see the magic Nino summoned. Nino began to trace two circles on the ground, one around Emilie, the other a few meters away. Once the second circle was completed, Nino stepped inside.

Felix continued to pull frantically at his arm as the magic around Nino slowly brightened. “That’s it,” Hawkmoth whispered. His attention was totally diverted now, his eyes lit up as he gazed upon his wife. “We’re so close, Emilie, just a little while longer and we’ll be reunited. This is my magnum opus, this is all for you.”

Felix gave one final jerk. He grit his teeth as the rope tore away a layer of skin on his wrist, desperate to keep from crying out, but finally his arm came free. Felix reached for Adrien, Adrien leaned as far towards him as he could, and Felix just barely managed to hook a finger over the rag tied around his brother’s mouth and pull it free. “Plagg, claws out!” Adrien whispered.

Felix’s eyes darted back to their father, but he was still captivated by the spell Nino was casting. He didn’t notice his son transforming behind him, didn’t notice the chair crumble into nothing. He didn’t notice anything until it was almost too late, whirling around and blocking Chat’s staff with his cane at the last possible second.

Felix continued to free himself as Hawkmoth and Chat Noir fought. He kept his eyes locked on Nino. Nino was ignoring everything, Nino was continuing to cast the spell that would cost him his life as though nothing else mattered. The circle around him was growing frighteningly bright, and Felix could feel heat coming off it. He broke free of the ropes and launched himself towards Nino, tackling him to the ground outside the circle just as a deafening crack sounded.

“Felix,” Nino murmured gently, “it’s okay, you don’t have to be scared.” He reached up and brushed Felix’s hair out of his face, Nino’s black eyes almost looking straight through him. “Just let me go.”

Felix shook his head and tightened his grip. “Never.”

Nino tried to get up, but Felix kept him pinned down. “You need your mother,” Nino said.

“I _want_ my mother,” Felix corrected. “I _need_ you.” He pressed his lips to Nino’s. Nino stopped trying to escape and kissed Felix back instead.

A second later, Nino collapsed in Felix’s arms.

“Nino? Nino!” Felix grasped Nino’s arms and shook him awake. Nino looked up. His eyes were back to their normal gold, and the shadows had faded from his transformation. “Nino? What… how did…” Felix turned towards the fighting and saw Chat standing over their father, lying prone in the middle of Nino’s spell behind them.

“Get him… out of… the circle,” Nino said weakly. “Don’t touch the edge.” Chat grabbed his father’s leg and pulled. He’d turned back into Gabriel Agreste, and didn’t wake up after Chat pulled him to safety.

Nino started shaking in Felix’s arms, and Felix tightened his embrace. “You’re okay,” Felix murmured. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.” Nino nodded, and they stayed like that together until Nino stopped shaking.

Adrien crouched next to them, his transformation dropped and his face drawn. “Are you okay?” Nino nodded. “What happened? We were fighting and then suddenly-”

“The spell,” Nino said. “It’s the darkest magic in the grimoire, for transferring life force. It must have sucked up the akuma energy, and the energy from your father’s transformation.”

Felix looked at Gabriel. “Is he…”

“He wasn’t in it long,” Nino said. “He’ll wake up. A month, maybe two.”

“If I’d left him in in it,” Adrien said slowly, “Mom would have woken up?”

“Eventually,” Nino said. “Once it killed him.”

“Tempting,” Felix muttered.

Nino’s hand found Felix’s and he squeezed it. “You don’t mean that,” Nino said. “You said it yourself, it doesn’t work like that. We can’t be in the business of trading one life for another, even when it’s someone like your father.”

“Yeah,” Felix said softly. “I know.”

Adrien sighed. “What do we do now?”

“We call the police,” Felix said. “And an ambulance. We get our parents to the best hospital in the city, Nino does what he can for both of them, and we get everything out into the open. When Father wakes up, he can answer for everything he’s done.”

Nino and Adrien were silent for a moment. “Are you sure?” Adrien finally asked. “That’s not going to be easy. Especially for you.”

“Not easy,” Felix agreed. “Just right.”

Nino hugged Felix, and Adrien reached down to squeeze his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll get through it together,” Nino promised, and Felix knew that the futures he’d been shown would come to pass.


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't gonna write any more of this but then seasonofthegeek went and had a birthday

Nathalie Sancoeur stormed into the interrogation room about an hour into Felix’s confession. “Felix, don’t say another word,” she snapped at him before whirling on the officer asking questions. “If you want to still have a job in forty-eight hours, you will cease questioning my underage ward at once.”

The officer blinked, surprised. “Ma’am, nobody’s being coerced here, I assure you. The young man was quite eager to-”

“Nathalie, I’m telling them everything,” Felix interrupted. “I have to do the right thing for once in my life, I have to-”

“No. No you don’t.” Nathalie took a breath. “I do. You’ve had more than enough of adults failing you, Felix, and it ends right now.” She looked back at the officer. “Felix Agreste is a minor, and you are questioning him without the presence or counsel of a lawyer. If you continue to do so, I will see to it that every single word of his testimony is found inadmissible in court.”

“Miss, please,” the officer said, “he’s giving us desperately needed information about-”

“Hawkmoth, yes,” Nathalie said impatiently. “His father was Hawkmoth, and he coerced the boy into assisting him. I know all about it, because I was Hawkmoth’s _willing_ accomplice. I can tell you far more than Felix can. I can give you airtight evidence that will have Gabriel Agreste found guilty before he even wakes up. And I will fully cooperate with your investigation-provided you release Felix into my custody first.”

The officer glanced at Felix for a moment, then looked back at Nathalie. “Don’t even think about leaving the city.”

“Of course not. Felix, come along.” Nathalie turned and strode brusquely out of the room. Felix stared at the open door in shock for a moment before hurrying after her, not catching up until she’d almost reached the car. She got in and started the car as Felix tentatively opened the passenger side door and climbed in. He was used to sitting in the back when being driven anywhere, but the thought of doing so now seemed unbearably awkward.

Well, it was awkward either way, it seemed.

“Where are we going?” Felix asked, breaking the heavy silence when it was clear they weren’t driving back to the mansion.

“The hospital.” Nathalie glanced at Felix, then fixed her eyes back on the road. “What happened?”

“Um.” Felix swallowed nervously. “Father tried, uh, he tried using Nino’s life force to wake Mom up.”

Nathalie shut her eyes for a moment, her expression pained. “I should have known,” she muttered. “He was always so vague about how he’d cure her. I should have… I’m sorry, Felix.”

“It’s okay,” he mumbled. “How’d you know where to find me?”

“I’m your father’s emergency contact. When I arrived at the hospital, Adrien told me you’d turned yourself in.” Nathalie shook her head. “I wish you’d called me before doing that, but I suppose I don’t have any right to be offended that you didn’t. I haven’t exactly been looking out for you very well, but that changes today.”

“You told the officer I was your...ward?”

“Legally, while both of your parents are incapacitated, I have guardianship of you and Adrien, yes.” Nathalie tapped her fingernails against the steering wheel nervously. “I understand if you’d prefer… I think Emilie had an aunt, she’d be almost seventy now, but given the circumstances I don’t imagine it would be difficult to-”

“No!” Nathalie startled at Felix’s urgency. “No, I want you. I’m sure Adrien will, too.”

Nathalie nodded. Her eyes were damp, and she blinked for a few seconds before replying. “Alright, then.”

 

* * *

 

“Felix!” Adrien had been half-asleep in an uncomfortable chair in the hospital room, but now he jumped up to embrace his brother. “They let you go?”

“Nathalie took care of it.” Felix looked over Adrien’s shoulder to the hospital bed, to where Nino was currently hooked up to several monitors. Nino flashed him a relieved smile, and Felix felt his heart ease. “She’s gonna answer all their questions instead.”

“She is? But how…” Adrien trailed off as understanding dawned.

Nathalie hovered in the doorway, unwilling to enter fully. “Mr. Lahiffe,” she said stiffly. “Let me say at once how… how relieved I am that you’re safe, and apologize for my part in everything.” Nino nodded, and Nathalie looked at Adrien. “Adrien… could we talk privately?”

Adrien hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed her out of the room. Once they were gone, Felix sat down in Adrien’s chair next to Nino and took his hand. “How are you?”

“Fine,” Nino said, smiling weakly. “I’m just going to be tired for a day or two, that’s all. Having an akuma ripped out of you is a bit of an energy drain. But I can’t exactly tell the nurses I’m an expert on these things, so they want to keep me here for twenty-four hours of observation, just to make sure. And my parents don’t want to take any chances so,” Nino shrugged, “whatever calms everyone down the fastest, right?”

Felix nodded. “Your parents?”

“Oh, yeah, you just missed ‘em. It’s way past Chris’ bedtime, so Dad’s driving him and Mom home, then he’ll be back.”

Felix swallowed thickly. “Did you, um,” he’d been so sure of himself when he insisted on everything coming out, when the idea of people knowing was abstract, but the thought of Nino’s mother knowing what he’d done filled Felix with shame and dread, “what did you tell them?”

Nino squeezed Felix’s hand. “They know you were Paon, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said gently. “But they also know you saved my life tonight. Trust me, that means more to them. It means everything.”

Felix shook his head. “I was just undoing the horrible thing I’d done, that’s all. You don’t get credit for that.”

“You saved me,” Nino repeated. “I don’t remember it very well, but I know your father turned the best parts of me against myself. You’re the reason I’m alive, Felix.” Nino raised Felix’s hand and kissed his fingertips. “You’re a hero.” Nino’s eyes closed, so he didn’t see the effect these words had on Felix. His breathing grew steady, and Felix felt a warmth in his chest, an easing of the tension he’d been carrying ever since realizing Nino was the Guardian.

Felix didn’t remember leaning forward, laying his head on the hospital cot, falling asleep. The next thing he knew, Nino’s father was gently shaking him awake. “I got it from here, son,” Mr. Lahiffe said softly. Felix slowly lifted himself up, struggling to open his heavy eyelids. The sky outside the window was oddly light, and it took Felix a moment to realize it was dawn.

“How long was I-“

“Not long,” Mr. Lahiffe said. “I came back straightaway. You should get some sleep in a real bed, you’ve had a long…”

Mr. Lahiffe trailed off, and his expression grew angry. Felix wasn’t surprised, but it still stung that Nino had been wrong about his parents. But of course they blamed Felix. They loved Nino. Felix had to be mature and accept the consequences of his-

“What happened to your wrist?”

“What?” Confuses, Felix looked down. His left wrist was bright red, the skin rubbed raw and bloody from when Felix had forcefully pulled it out of his father’s tight restraint. “Oh. That. That was, um, he tied us up, I had to…” Felix didn’t know what to say. It was a new day and suddenly the task of giving voice to what had happened last night was too much.

“My God,” Mr. Lahiffe murmured, shaking his head. He looked back at his son, still asleep. “I don’t understand how any father could-“ He stopped himself. “We should get a nurse.”

Felix shook his head. “No, I can bandage it at home.”

“It could get infected if you don’t-“

“We have everything at home. I think you were right, about getting some sleep in a real bed.”

Mr. Lahiffe nodded, careful of Felix’s obvious discomfort. “Alright. Well, I just spoke with the attending physician, he expects Nino will be home by this evening. Come by for dinner, you and Adrien.”

“No, you don’t have to-“

“I insist. I know Fatima’s eager to thank you both properly.”

Felix sighed, not sure why he was fighting it in the first place. “Okay. We’ll be there.”

 

* * *

 

Nino’s mother pulled Adrien and Felix into the tightest of embraces the second they were through the door and didn’t let go for a solid minute. “My baby, you two saved my baby,” she kept saying. “I love you both so much, you know that?”

“Fatima, love, let the boys breathe.”

“You guys were on the news!” Nino’s little brother piped up, excited.

“Christophe!” Fatima finally let go in order to scold properly. “Your father and I told you not to bother the boys about that!”

“Nino wasn’t on the news though, they just said ‘unnamed teenager’, everyone was talking about it at school and I wasn’t allowed to say _anything_ even though I knew more than anybody else about it, even the teachers.” Chris pouted at the unfairness of this.

“Chris,” his father said calmly, “set the table.”

“That’s Nino’s job!”

“Nino’s resting.”

“The doctor said he was fine,” Chris muttered, but he headed for the kitchen all the same.

Felix volunteered to get Nino for dinner. He walked slowly through the apartment that had been his home for the past few weeks. Felix had slept in his own bed for the first time in ages, and only sheer exhaustion had allowed him to fall asleep. He missed the Lahiffe’s guest room, small and cozy and everything the Agreste manor wasn’t. He knew he’d have to move back now. It was time to start turning the mansion back into a home, even if it was missing a few key family members.

“Nino?” Nino smiled up at Felix as he entered the room. “Um, dinner’s almost ready, if you’re up for… but we can bring stuff here if you-“

“Nah, I’m fine,” Nino said, getting up from his bed. “Really,” he added, seeing Felix’s skeptical expression. “I told you, I’m an expert on these things.”

“Right.” Felix looked away. “You’re the Guardian and all that.”

Nino studied his boyfriend’s face for a moment. “Yeah, I am,” he said. “Are you… okay, this might be the stupidest question I’ve ever asked in my life, but are you okay?”

Felix smiled weakly. “I’m tired, I’m still in shock, I’m dreading going back to school, but… but I’m finally free, and your mom made lamb for dinner. Yeah, I’m okay.”

 

* * *

 

School wasn’t as bad as Felix had dreaded. Not having many friends to turn against him in the first place helped. Adrien and Nino’s very outspoken support helped as well. The official story they’d given everyone was that Gabriel had forced Felix to be Paon, but he’d ultimately turned against the villain and joined forces with Chat Noir to save Adrien and the ‘unnamed teenager’, who everyone at school had immediately figured out was Nino. Anyone who thought about giving Felix a hard time for the role he’d played in it all knew they’d have to go through Nino or Adrien first, and so the other students mostly left Felix alone.

Felix understood the need for the lies for the most part, the need to hide Adrien and Nino’s identities as anything more than civilian victims. He was less sure about the ‘forced to be Paon’ part, despite Adrien and Nino’s repeated insistences. Even now, even with time and distance from everything, Felix couldn’t be sure how much of Paon had been his father and how much had been his own doing. Maybe he would never know for sure. Maybe nobody ever got to be certain about the things that happened to them at the hands of others. If he’d fought more, if he’d been braver, louder, if, if, if. You could drown in ‘what if’s, if you weren’t careful.

A month later, Felix and Adrien and Nathalie were seated at dinner when Nathalie’s phone rang. Dinner was more of a family affair than it had been since before Emilie had fallen, but between the lawyers, the police, and the company, Nathalie was working nonstop and so she frequently took calls during meals. She answered on the first ring, and the boys saw her face immediately go pale. “I see,” she said after a moment. “Yes. I understand. I appreciate that, doctor.” Nathalie put her phone away and stared at her plate for a moment, unmoving. “Your father’s awake,” she finally said.

Nino had warned them it might be any day now.

“There is a police presence at the hospital at all times,” Nathalie continued, “and for now your father is only permitted to call his lawyer.”

Adrien put his fork down slowly. “I, um, I might go see him tomorrow.” He looked at Felix. “If that’s okay.”

“Alone, you mean?”

Adrien nodded. “I just… I have a lot to say, and if you’re there he might… I don’t want it to be about… I just need to see him alone the first time, that’s all.”

“It’s fine,” Felix said. “I don’t know if I’ll go at all.”

Later, Felix tried to text Nino the news, starting sentences then deleting them halfway through over and over again. Nothing Felix said was right, nothing was good enough. In the end, Felix gave up when he saw his news feed explode.

Adrien was still out on patrol, but Nino didn’t do that. Nino would be home. Felix briefly considered calling first, but if texting him had been so difficult, calling would be impossible. He walked alone through the streets of Paris to the Lahiffe, apartment. Nino’s parents didn’t bother to announce Felix, they’d clearly seen the news and they knew him well enough now to simply allow him proceed unhindered.

Nino was seated at his computer when Felix reached his room, math homework on the screen. His expression was drawn as Felix entered. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You okay?” Felix shrugged and sat down on Nino’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to be here, is that okay?”

“Of course.” Nino turned his computer off and sat down next to Felix. “Look.” He took Felix’s hand. “I know this is going to make things more difficult, but you’ve gotten this far. It’s going to be okay.” Nino hesitated for a moment, then leaned over and opened his nightside table drawer. “Here, I want you to have this.” He pulled out a familiar wooden box, and Felix immediately jumped up, recoiling. “Felix?”

“What the hell? Is that… you want me to have _that_?”

“Felix, I don’t want you to think I don’t think you’re worthy of the Peacock Miraculous. You are, you proved that a month ago. You’re a hero. I should have given it back right away. I’m sorry.” Nino frowned, confused. “Don’t you want it back?”

“God, no! Why would you think that? I don’t want to have one of those damn things, I don’t want anybody to have one!”

For a moment, Felix and Nino stared at each other in silence. Felix hadn’t realized until that moment that he felt that way. “I see,” Nino said softly. “Even Adrien?” Felix nodded. “Even me?”

“I’m sorry,” Felix said. “They’re just, they’re a nightmare, Nino! After everything they’ve put you through, how can you not see that?”

Nino sighed. “They were a nightmare for you,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t think about it from your perspective. But your experience, Felix, it doesn’t have to be the only experience you have. Just because your father twisted them doesn’t mean-”

“I lost my mother before my father did a single thing with a Miraculous.”

“I know, but-”

“What if I lose you, too?”

For a while, Nino was silent. “I can’t promise you won’t,” he finally said.

“I wouldn’t believe you if you did.”

Nino nodded. “If you lose me… that’ll suck, Felix, but you’ll be okay eventually.”

“Will I? My father wasn’t.”

Nino groaned. “Felix, how many times do we all have to keep telling you you aren’t your father?” He let out another sigh. “Sit down, Felix.” Felix sat, but held himself back from Nino. Nino reached for his hand anyway. “Felix, you are your own person. You don’t have to take the Miraculous back if you don’t want it, but whether you take it or not won’t change that fact. You are stronger and better than your father. I can’t promise you’ll never lose anyone again, and I wouldn’t be able to promise that even if I took every Miraculous back and locked them up in a safe for eternity. Things happen to people no matter who they are. That’s just life. But I can promise you that you will survive whatever comes.”

Felix didn’t meet Nino’s gaze. “I don’t have to take it back? That’s okay?”

Nino smiled. “Yeah, dude, that’s okay.” He squeezed Felix’s hand. “It’s okay if I keep on being the Guardian, right?”

Felix nodded. “Yeah, I’m… I’m okay dating the Guardian if the Guardian’s okay dating just Felix.”

Nino leaned forward and kissed Felix. “I love just Felix,” Nino whispered. “Just Felix saved my life, you know. Just Felix is great. Just Felix might be my favorite person.”

Grinning, Felix kissed Nino back, melting into it as relief washing over him. “Just Felix thinks you’re pretty great, too,” he murmured. Nino wrapped an arm around Felix’s waist, pulling him close. Tomorrow would bring with it new trials, new challenges, and the days that followed would undoubtedly as well, but now there was peace and warmth and a certainty that all would be well.


End file.
